PLANE passengers were arguing so violently that the flight had to divert after it was considered to be in danger due to the couple’s intense rage.

Jet2 cabin crew and passengers were shocked when a couple began to argue and fight so aggressively that the plane's safety was compromised and the flight had to be diverted from Gran Canaria to Faro, Portugal.

Ronald St Ville, 55, and Pauline Gordon, 65, have now both been charged with endangering the safety of an aircraft at Chelmsford Crown Court after the incident in July 2017. Both deny the charges.

The pair were sitting either side of the aisle on the Jet2 Boeing 737-800 from London Stansted Airport to Gran Canaria when St Ville began acting aggressively towards Gordon, causing another passenger to warn cabin crew.

Junior cabin crew member Caitlin McAleese told the court how St Ville had asked what wines were available but she told him he wasn’t allowed to have any due to his violent behaviour.

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Some of the children had got a bit upset, there were two crying children. I felt very intimidated.

Caitlin McAleese

He then told McAleese: "Just f***ing leave it, that s*** won't let me." A few minutes later Gordon was spotted "flying" across the aisle to beat St Ville with her fists.

McAleese said: "I heard raised voices and shouting. I turned around to assess the situation and I realised that it was the two passengers,” reported the Hertfordshire Mercury.

"I went down the gallery to see what was happening and as I was walking down the woman flew across the aisle and went at the gentleman. She was shouting 'Give me it back'."

Fortunately, two police officers were also on the plane - one serving, one retired - who stepped in to help the cabin crew after the situation was reported to the pilots.

It transpired that (at least part) of the argument stemmed from St Ville taking money from Gordon.

McAleese said: "The woman was upset because it came to light what the gentleman had been doing.

Jet2: The couple have now both been charged with endangering the safety of an aircraft (Image: Getty Images)

"It came to light that he had been taking money out of her purse. He had £10 notes in his hands."

The pair were then separated but the court heard how Gordon, who had been moved to the back, repeatedly tried to return to her former seat opposite St Ville.

Their actions were both upsetting and frightening for the others on board.

McAleese said: "Some of the children had got a bit upset, there were two crying children. I felt very intimidated. I was scared of the potential of the gentleman. The woman did apologise to us a few times."

The situation became too dangerous for the flight to safely continue, so the cabin crew and pilots agreed to divert the plane from Gran Canaria to Faro.

A concern was that the cabin crew would not be able to focus on their real duties as they were too focussed on the rowing couple.

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Jet2: The cabin crew and pilots agreed to divert the plane from Gran Canaria to Faro (Image: Getty Images)

Another member of the cabin crew, Felicity Scott, told the court: "We would have felt completely on edge about what could happen next. I told the pilots because it was such a situation they needed to know about it.

"It was a situation we believed was endangering the safety to the aircraft."

When the cabin crew told St Ville they were preparing to land because they’d been diverted, his response was "This is a f***ing joke, how am I meant to get to Gran Canaria?"

Both St Ville and Gordon deny the charges and the trial continues.

This week another usual sight was witnessed in a budget airline - a koala bear travelling with Eurowings.

The 19-month-old Queensland koala, named Tanami, was making the 700-mile journey from Duisburg Zoo in Dusseldorf, Germany to Scotland to join Edinburgh Zoo.